Klapat: Suspension wrong

SECRETARY for Community Development Joseph Klapat claims that he has been wrongfully and unfairly suspended by the government.
He says he has been cleared of allegations against him which have been brought up again as the basis of his suspension by the National Executive Council last month.
The allegations were raised by former corporate affairs secretary Samson Chiki.
He believes that the NEC may not be aware that he had been cleared of the allegations by the Public Service Commission (PSC) and the Department of Personnel Management.
“It is not fair as the allegations contained in the statutory business paper that the NEC based its decision on are already cleared by PSC and Department of Public Management.”
Klapat suspects that Chiki is behind the move to have him suspended because he was the one who gave that information to the NEC.
He believes that his suspension had not been based on contractual obligations in consultation with the PSC and the DPM.
He says it was the same decision that saw the appointment of acting secretary corporate affairs Anna Solomon as the acting department secretary.
The allegations were forwarded to the Minister for Community Development who referred it to the Department of Public Management who then referred it to PSC.
He appeared before the PSC and was given 14 days to submit a detailed report to them.
“After assessing my response to these allegations PSC advised the Department of Public Management that they have found no prima facie case against me to warrant suspension.”
He was notified by the Minister for Community Development Andrew Mald last Monday to vacate his office. He is yet to receive a formal notification of his suspension.
He will not vacate his office until he receives the instruments of his suspension from the Head of state, he added.